In recent years, as resistance to conventional antibiotics has continued to grow and the application of chemical biocides becomes increasingly unacceptable on environmental grounds, attention has turned to alternative methods for control of bacterial infection.
One promising approach involves the application of bacteriophages, being naturally occurring ubiquitous viruses that are harmless to humans, animals, plants and fish but lethal for bacteria. Bacteriophages are specific and will infect only particular bacterial types, with several sanitation products now on the market against pathogens such as Salmonella and Listeria. 
Bacteriophage immobilised on a surface retain their infectivity and are much more resistant to degradation than free bacteriophage. Immobilisation to fine particulates, such as beads, allows bacteriophages to be deployed by spray and aerosol and this mode of deployment has many applications, including treatment of human and animal bacterial disease.
Pulmonary tuberculosis is the most predominantly occurring form of tuberculosis (Tuberculosis, 2005, 85, 227-234) and the current chemotherapeutic regimen for treating pulmonary tuberculosis comprises administration of various antitubercular drugs such as isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol and/or pyrizinamide. Treatment is ineffective, leading to poor patient compliance and development of drug resistant strains of the intracellular bacteria that cause the disease. WO 2012/017405 provides an inhalable, microparticle based formulation. Still further therapies for this disease are, however, required.
Woiwode et al. (Chemistry and Biology, 2003, vol. 10, pp. 847-858) describes a phage display system that has been adapted to screen synthetic compounds. The synthetic compounds are attached to specific bacteriophage whose identity, and hence that of the synthetic compound, is encoded in the genome of the bacteriophage. A library of such bacteriophage can be screened by conventional phage display techniques and the identity of the synthetic compounds of interest can be found by identifying the specific bacteriophage it is associated with.
Rizk et al. (Bioconjugate Chemistry, 2012, vol. 23, pp. 42-46) describes the use of variant of substance P in receptor-mediated delivery of a ‘cargo’ molecule across a cell membrane. Receptor mediated delivery employs the natural endocytosis of a ligand upon binding to its receptor. Substance P is an eleven amino acid neuropeptide ligand of the neurokinin type 1 receptor and can be linked to a suitable cargo via a non-reducible thioether bond. Thus suitable cargos bearing substance P can be endocytosed upon binding of substance P to its receptor. Suitable cargos include DNA fragments, polystyrene beads and M13 bacteriophage.
US 2009/0053789 describes a method of binding bacteriophage to particles by exposing the particles to an electrical discharge in order to activate them and then mixing the activated particles with bacteriophage. In this way the bacteriophage are covalently bound to the particles.
US 2010/0285136 describes a system whereby bacteriophage are employed as a bridging molecule to bind particles comprising active agents to a substrate. This is achieved by the bacteriophage bearing both a first additional peptide that adheres to the surface of the particle and a second additional peptide that can adhere on substrate surfaces. This system may be used for delayed release of active agents. A method of screening a combinatorial phage population to find the particular bacteriophage to use is also described. WO 2008/109398 describes production of liposomes bearing modified bacteriophage for use in vaccine preparations. The vaccine antigen is displayed on a bacteriophage which is bound to the liposome.
US 2002/0001590 describes treatment of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) by exposing these pathogens to bacteriophage selected from the species Myoviridae. Formulations containing these bacteriophages and their use as bactericides are also described.
Broxmeyer (Medical Hypotheses, 2004, vol. 62, pp. 889-893) describes the treatment an intracellular infection of macrophages using bacteriophage TM4 against virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium avium. The bacteriophages were delivered to the pathogens as lysogens of the non-pathogenic bacterium Mycobacterium smegmatis. 
Lunov et al. (ACS Nano, 2011, vol. 5, pp. 1657-1669) describe internalisation of carboxy and amino functionalised polystyrene nanoparticles by macrophages, and by differentiated and undifferentiated cells from a monocytic cell line.
The present invention relates to novel deployment of bacteriophage for treatment of bacterial infection.
An aim of the present invention is to provide compositions that are active against the growth or persistence of bacteria present within the body or cells of another organism, e.g. a plant or animal. An object of particular embodiments of the invention is to treat specific animal and plant intracellular infections.